I could’ve kicked him. “I don’t want to!”
Before I could react, he lifted me off the ground effortlessly, his grip like iron. It was like I weighed nothing at all. "Put me down!" I snapped, kicking at him.
Thorne didn’t even flinch. He held me up, his face hard, and without another word, placed me in the saddle of the horse.
I shot him a look that would’ve made a lesser man flinch. "You’re unbelievable."
He didn’t answer. He only swung up behind me, settling in with a smooth, practiced motion that sent the horse into motion. His presence engulfed me as his body pressed close against mine, his arm brushing against my side as he took the reins.
I tensed, my body reacting against my will. The closeness was suffocating, and yet, my skin prickled at the heat that radiated from him. My pulse quickened, betraying me.
I glared at him, my pulse pounding in my ears. "You’re such an asshole."
"Yeah, well, you aren’t exactly a delight, little shadow." He muttered under his breath, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly as if he found my frustration amusing.
I shot a glance over my shoulder and caught Leo snickering behind us, clearly enjoying the show. Even Phoenix couldn’t hide the amusement in his eyes, sending me a look that said,you’re stuck with him, sorry. Deal with it.
Slade, however, remained silent as usual, his unreadable expression masking whatever thoughts were running through his head. But unlike the others, there was something different in the way he was watching me. A subtle protectiveness in his gaze that I hadn't noticed before.
I turned my attention back to the road ahead, gritting my teeth. It wasn’t just the constant proximity to Thorne that was driving me crazy—it was the fact that I couldn’t shake the feeling that this ride, this moment, wasn’t about me winning or losing. It was about Thorne—hiscontrol,hispresence, and me, stuck in the middle of it all like usual.
The horse moved steadily beneath us, but I could feel every subtle shift of his body as he held the reins, his arms wrapped around me, keeping me in place. His presence was overwhelming, suffocating even, and yet, there was no way to escape it.
I hated how much I could feel him. The heat radiating from his chest, the firm lines of his body pressed against mine—it all sent shocks of awareness through me. I was determined to ignore it. I tried to focus on the rhythmic clip-clop of thehorse’s hooves against the ground, anything to distract me from the fact each movement had my back rubbing up against his muscular chest.
His breath brushed against my neck, a soft exhale that sent a shiver down my spine. I clenched my jaw, trying to keep my body from betraying me.
“Relax,” Thorne said, his voice low, thick with something I couldn’t quite place.
“I’m fine,” I snapped, even though my pulse was hammering in my throat, and I was sure he could feel the way my body tensed, how every fibre of me screamed to break free, tomoveaway from him.
His arms tightened around me, not in a comforting way, but to keep me steady as the horse trotted along. I fought against the tug of his body, the way he moulded to my back like he was part of me.
“You’re not fine,” he muttered, his voice low and rough, like the scrape of a blade against stone. “You’re wound tighter than a bowstring.”
I could feel his smirk without even seeing it.
My jaw locked, my fingers clenching around the reins until my knuckles blanched white. “I’m not the one with the control issues,” I snapped.
He gave a soft, humourless chuckle—one that sounded more like a warning than anything else. “Oh, little shadow,” he said, voice curling darkly around the words. “You’ve barely scratched the surface of my control issues.”
I felt him shift behind me. His body was a solid wall of muscle against my back, and I could feel the tension in him, the way he was fighting it just as hard as I was. Neither of us had spoken the words, but we both knew—this was dangerous.
Every inch of me wanted to turn into him, toleaninto the heat of his body and lose myself in it. But I wouldn’t. I couldn’t.
I refuse!
I elbowed him hard and heard him grunt in response.
Leo chuckled behind me. “Feisty," he murmured, almost admiring.
"Careful, little shadow," Thorne said in my ear, voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "Push me too hard, and I might just stop pretending to be a gentleman."
I just twisted around and glared. “Believe me, Thorne. No one ever mistookyoufor a gentleman.”
I heard the others laughing out loud now. I chose to ignore them.
Bunch of jerk faces.
